The Creme de la Krems of the Wachau valley

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This morning we woke to find the Viking Gullweig tied up alongside a small jetty with a prominent sign telling us we had arrived in Krems. Krems or to give it its proper name, Krems an der Donau is a small town about 70km west of Vienna with a modest population of just under 24,000. Although Krems was first mentioned in a document in 985, settlers were probably around long before that as a grave dating back over 27,000 years was found here making it the oldest grave in Austria.

This morning’s excursion was to a working monastery known as Gottweig Abbey. Roisin, Kate and Carla had decided to give this tour a miss so I was on my own. As I mentioned in the previous blog, an audio receiver could be found in each cabin and should be taken on all excursions in order for the guide to communicate with everyone. On this occasion, however, and to everyone’s surprise (except my own) I forgot mine!!

Gottweig Abbey is a monastery that follows the Benedictine order that means the monks follow the teachings of St Benedict. Born in Umbria in what is now is modern day Italy around 480AD, St. Benedict is most known for the creation of a monastic rule. He wrote this rule for the monks of his own monastery at Monte Cassino, not expecting that his rule would establish a monastic rule that would be adopted by others. There are currently forty monks that occupy the Abbey although twenty live in the village at the bottom of the valley. Throughout the ages there have been as many as eighty monks working in the abbey (must have been a good year for recruitment!!) and as little as three!

The monks of the Abbey, like most, make a living from producing wine and fruit juice. On arrival we were shepherded into a small room, offered a sample of either white wine or juice and made to watch a short film on wine and juice production. The narrator stated that the fruit used to produce the juice is not unlike an apricot. On the way back to the ship, the guide pointed out the apricot trees that produce the fruit. So, just to be absolutely clear, the fruit is not unlike an apricot because it IS an apricot!! Or am I missing something?)

For the next hour or so we were taken in to various chapels, churches and around the grounds. I had to stick close to our guide to hear what she had to say. Did you know, for example, that ‘Bless you’ comes from the time of Pope Constantine and refers to the short prayer said to those who had the plague of which sneezing was one of the many symptoms. When the sneezing started, you knew you were not long for this world so the Pope, or, if you didn’t have a Pope close to hand, the local priest would say ‘Bless You’ (and may the Lord save and Protect you)

We entered the main church and took a pew while the guide gave us more facts and a short history lesson. Just prior to being given ten minutes to roam the church taking photos etc. our guide told us about holy relics. Monasteries like their relics. These usually relate to some body part of a saint or in some cases, the main man himself. If the monastery couldn’t secure a body part (perhaps they were outbid on eBay!!) then the next best thing is something that has come into contact with ‘Our Lord’; a shroud or fragment of a cross would usually suffice. Gottweig Abbey were no different and had their holy relic on display in the church crypt. Whether it was a taste of the macabre or just morbid curiosity, but when it was mentioned that the skull of Blessed Altman, Bishop of Passau who lived around the eleventh century and is the founder of the Abbey was kept below, everyone in our tour group made a beeline for the crypt. The only skulls I have previously seen are the novelty ones that you can buy and use as ash trays. I doubt if the monks had put their holy relic to such a practical use!! We were, however, all disappointed. The skull was kept under lock and key in a side chamber that was protected by bars prohibiting unauthorised persons getting within ten feet of the silver ornately carved casket. Solid silver with not so much as an inspection window!!

Our ten minutes was up and we all ventured back out in to the main Abbey courtyard. Up to this point we had not seen any of the monks milling around. Introducing Boiled Egg!! One of the monks came striding across the courtyard from the residences toward what is now an office block. He wore a black cassock, looked more like a priest than a monk. Like dockers, all monks have nick names. This particular monk’s nickname derives from his ability to make a mean breakfast. All the brotherhood is rostered to make breakfast. They can tell who has prepared breakfast by the quality of the boiled eggs!! Incidentally, my favourite nickname for one of the dockers that used to work Huskisson dock area of Liverpool is the ‘Diesel fitter’. Known for his clumsiness for splitting open consignments of women’s underwear, he’d sift through the goods that spill out, and selecting a pair of knickers he’d hold them up to the rest of the gang and say ‘diesel fitter’, before stuffing them in to his donkey jacket!!

After our guided tour we had about forty-five minutes free time. I wandered off in the direction of the Abbey museum. Now whether I took a wrong turning, I don’t know but I seemed to end up in someone’s bed chamber!! They say monks are poor as all their worldly possessions are surrendered to the Almighty. You could say they don’t have a pot to piss in!! However, I beg to differ as under this bed I saw such a pot!! Moreover, I think the monk was still in bed. Time to make a hasty retreat (after taking a few photos of course!!)

On our way back to the ship we passed a petrol station. This prompted out guide to advise the coach that the current price of unleaded petrol in Austria averages €1.13 per litre. You could clearly hear the gasps from the onboard American contingent as they converted this to US dollars per gallon. The guide then added, ‘How we Austrians dream of having USA prices’. I just smiled at that comment and thought to myself, ‘€1.13 per litre? How we Brits dream of having Austrian prices!!’

The Viking Gullveig left Krems early afternoon and the rest of the day was spent cruising along the Wachau valley, one of the five UNESCO World Heritage Sites visited on this trip. The cruise director, Jochim, continued to provide commentary at appropriate moments. It was zero degrees on deck. The Wachau valley is about as picturesque as it gets on the Danube with both banks blanketed with vineyards and ornamented with quaint villages. Whilst we were relaxing with a cup of hot chocolate in the lounge, enter the captain. He approached each cluster of guests in turn and holding out his had offered everyone an individually wrapped chocolate! I bet you don’t get that on Cunard!!!

The evenings entertainment was the one and only trivia session that was held throughout the entire cruise. It was a movie trivia and we didn’t hold out much hope for our team, ‘One man and the Liver birds’. It was well turned out, twenty-four teams in all. There were 5 rounds, ten points for a correct answer for the first four rounds and fifty points for a correct answer for the final round. This was an observation round. A clip of Gene Kelly’s Singing in the Rain was shown and then five questions were asked. For example, what colour were Gene Kelly’s shoes and what colour was the swim suit in the travel agents window. I must point out that not all the questions were colour related although I can see how these questions may be considered biased towards people who are NOT colour blind!! Not of this matter, however as we came in with a full house on the final round thus finishing up ‘top of the shop’. For our efforts we were rewarded with not one but two bottles of wine. We were assured that these were decent bottles and not the wine that is provided free at meal times!! £12.50 a bottle (not that I googled it!!) That’s double the price of my usual spend!!

This evening it started to snow! Later that evening, Roisin, Carla and I were on deck watching the boat approach a lock when a young Serbian deck hand appeared (he may have been Ukrainian!!) He held a rope in his hand, jumped ashore and secured the boat to one of the many capstans dispersed alongside the quay. This was to stop the boat drifting whilst we waited the twenty minutes for the sluice to empty and the lock gates to open. The snow was now two to three inches deep. Carla, jokingly said to the deck hand: ‘c’mon, give us a snow angel while you’re there!!’ This had the same affect as if Carla was a Dress Sergeant Major and had just said to a subordinate: ‘Drop and give me twenty, soldier!’ But instead of assuming the press up position, the deck hand (used to taking orders) immediately, and without question, flopped on his back and started waving his arms and legs in the fresh snow. Whether it is the Captain or a lowly deck hand, the service thus far has been second to none. Give the customer what they want….in this case ‘snow angels!!!

With the free bottles of wine and the extracurricular entertainment, to quote a well-known 70s sitcom starring the Fonz…Happy days!!!

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Photos

Gottwieg Abbey main chapel
St Cecilia's

The deck hand's snow angel
Trained to obey orders - even from cheeky passengers from Skem!!